


Spliced

by Ryx5



Series: Flee, Hunter [1]
Category: Destiny (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Artificial Intelligence, Death, Destiny video game, F/M, Grief/Mourning, Homosexual characters, Implied Sexual Content, Lots of chapters, Memories, Mental Breakdown, Mental Instability, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pain, Past Lives, Rise of Iron, Romance, Sarcasm, Slow Build, Slurs, Some Humor, Tension, Work In Progress, offensive slurs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-28
Updated: 2017-10-22
Packaged: 2018-10-11 22:45:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 19
Words: 17,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10476216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ryx5/pseuds/Ryx5
Summary: When two guardians are called upon by Lord Saladin to take care of SIVA once and for all, it's not quite what they expected.Romance, Character dialogue, Developed characters, Slow build, Friendships.





	1. Lucky Shots

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, this is my first fic I've posted! Please excuse any punctuation errors and any other mistakes. There will be future edits to these chapters! Also any names or relations to other persons are completely coincidental
> 
>  
> 
> This takes place along the rise of iron storyline. The raid is not part of the story, and some levels have been left out of this fic.
> 
> Please give this a read, thanks! (Even though there isnt explicit sexual content, which a lot of people seem to like in Destiny fics.)

Lushia-5 dodged each attack from the vex effortlessly as their numbers grew. The metal machines marched towards her, their heavy metal frames causing each step to be a crash on the solid ground. The exo reached to her belt and found a small grenade. She detached it from the clasp and tossed it at the group of vex approaching her. A high beep sounded before they were engulfed in poisonous green and purple smoke.

The hunter evaded to the side as she saw more teleporting towards her. She angered them with her first attack, and the rest were yet to come. She felt her other grenade on her belt which was still cooling down. Lushia would have to take these ones on with weapons only. She raised up her hand cannon and fired into the first goblin's abdomen, spilling the glowing substance onto the ground. It fell with a metallic growl as it's other members continued on towards the more sentient machine.

The other's were taken care of easily, but when an axis minotaur emerged from the group of increasing vex, she faced a challenge. Hobgoblins and other minotaurs began to attack. One minotaur knocked the exo to the ground, causing her to cry out in pain. She rolled out of range as she felt an energy surge, meaning that the option of drawing void energy was available.

Lushia formed the action of drawing the bow string as the purple light formed with a light arrow nocked and ready to fly. A split second before she fired at the minotaur who knocked her down, she saw a glowing object collide with the metal body. The fire incinerated the metal and the particles withered into the air. Lushia frantically fired another arrow at another minotaur, only to have another fire hammer meet it first.

Her arrow flew away to the ground ahead, making a loud crack and creating a bubble of void on the stone. The hunter held the last one back as the void ran out of the bow and she was left with only anger. The sunbreaker who produced the hammers had to be only one person. It was a titan that the exo had not seen in a while.

Lushia turned, frustrated and growling.

"Damn it, Sergio. I had that back there," the exo shouted as she walked angrily to the titan who stole her kills. The sunbreaker stood with his hands casually on his hips as the angry hunter stomped towards him, watching her robotic body mimic the movements of a human.

"If you had just let me use my arrows and not waste them," she continued, stopping abruptly in front of him. Her sentence and any left over anger soon fizzled as she felt a hand fall onto her waist. The other fell on the back of her neck.

"Good to see you too," the titan said. His voice was kind, soft and serene. Even if the raging hunter was short tempered, he was patient and stayed by her side. The exo's fuzzy mind was cleared and possessed playful annoyance as the titan had pulled her into an embrace.

She let it last for a few moments before pulling away and remembering that they were in the vex territory. The hunter and the titan stood across from each other, noticing their height difference. Lushia suddenly broke off the feeling of intimacy and pulled away.

"I'd love to stare at you all day," the exo began again. "But there are vex to be killed, and patrols to done, Serge." Lushia reached to her hip, finding her hand cannon and pulling it from the holster. Of course, only to have Sergio stop her.

"Hey, hey. Calm down your bloodlust, Lu." That nickname nagged at the exo, but never bothered her enough for her to tell him to stop. "If you could handle looking at me all day then why don't you come back to the tower. Take a break for once." The human always tried to persuade the exo to stay with him when it was appropriate.

The exo laughed at the thought. Come back with him? Silly. She tried to prevent herself from falling into the tempting offer. It was true, however, that she hadn't had a free night with the titan in a long time. Lushia considered the idea of being at peace for a while before the next day. Or day after that. Or the next after that...

No. She couldn't let herself be soft like this. Her smooth chain of thoughts was interrupted by the human's hand placed again on her hips once again.

"So is that a yes, or no?" Sergio said to the exo smoothly and persuasively. Lushia couldn't help herself. She began to imagine how rest would feel. Not sleep, but the feeling of relaxation.

The hunter laughed softly. "You're too irresistible." Sergio chuckled at her compliment. At least, what he hoped was a compliment. "And stupid, you know," the hunter joked.

"There it is." Sergio was used to the exo's comments like these. The exo didn't want to become attached to others in fear of weakness. He understood her motive as a guardian and respected it. But his love for her would often seep beyond her boundaries which would pull Lushia into it as well. As much as the exo wanted to remain strong and invulnerable, she enjoyed the drug called love.

"Fine," Lushia said finally. "I'll come back with you until we get another mission." She put her hand cannon back in the holster and summoned her ghost, additionally placing her hand on Sergio's arm that held her close. She almost conjured up her ship when the titan intercepted. Again.

"I'll fly us, Lu" The hunter looked at him as he summoned his own ghost and ship, still keeping her at the waist.

The exo felt the romance creep in slowly at the titan's touch. He had persuaded her once more, but this time the exo was more accepting of it. She smiled to herself and leaned against Sergio as he took them home.


	2. Tower Evening

Sergio's arm was draped over one of the exo's shoulders as they walked around the tower that evening. A light dusting had coated the surface of the tower and the cool night air gave off a feeling of wintery peace. The titan and the hunter's footsteps created prints trailing behind them. 

The Traveler was in view right outside the tower as it usually was, bringing Light to the Last City. Some of the civilians strolled about the Tower amongst the armored dead, asking them questions about what it was like to be in combat every day. 

Lushia stopped suddenly and picked up a fistful of snow. Even when her gloves were off, the bits of frozen water didn't ever disappear like they did with the humans or Awoken.

"You've always liked the snow, Lu," Sergio said, taking the exo's cold hand. The exo seemed to have an sly grin in her metal face, her purple eyes looking slyly up at him. The titan usually had good reflexes, but not in this time. The exo shoved the little mound of snow into the titan's face, making him stumble back a bit.

The titan returned it with a full handful of snow to the exo's face. Lushia grabbed two fistfuls of snow and packed them together and hurled it at Sergio's chest. It erupted in a melee between the two of snow and laughs that filled the night air.

 

The two guardians' battle ended as the frame guards told them to stop due to violence. That was a mere scratch at the surface compared to the real violence out in the world beyond. Their underclothes were soaked from the snow melted within them. They were grateful for the option of spare clothing.

The dorm was neat because Sergio and Lushia had not occupied it for a while. A large window allowed the Traveler to be in view clearly as the clouds rolled in and a light rain began to fall.

Lushia, who was wearing a white tank top and shorts, waited for her titan to finish a shower while she read one of the books provided in the dorm. There were hundreds of copies at the Tower, but none of them were any less special than the other. 

"Whatcha got there, Lu?" Sergio's abrupt entrance from out of the bathroom nearly made the exo jump. She lifted the small book to show him and put it aside on the nightstand. As the titan made his way to the exo's side of the bed, Lushia admired his form. Her eyes went from the white shorts he was wearing up to his buzzed brown hair.

Sergio neared the exo and lifted her chin to kiss her face lightly. "It's good to have you back." 

Lushia made a low hum as she found herself pulling him closer to her. The titan climbed up onto the bed so that he was sheltering the exo's form with his as he placed kisses on her neck. The exo drew a breath as he lifted her shirt off over her head to peck her gray plated chest and stomach. Lushia's fingers laced with his and she whimpered slightly. As the titan came back up to meet her lips once more, the exo softly pushed him down onto the bed so she was sitting atop his waist.

"You missed me, huh," Sergio said to her and winked as the exo rested her forehead on his. As his hands traveled down her back, Lushia began to softly roll her hips against him. When she heard his breathing speed up she stopped and pulled away.

"Sorry," she gasped. "I shouldn't have done that."

"Why not?"

"I can't please you like you'd like me to." She glanced downward and back up to meet his eyes. 

The titan pulled her close against his chest and rest his face between her shoulder and neck. He felt a dull stab of sympathy for his hunter mixed with shared sadness.

"Don't worry about that," Sergio said, shaking his head. "I think you're perfect."

At this, the exo sat up once more and scooted backwards a bit. She began to run her hand down the titan's torso, her fingers lightly brushing against his skin. When she got lower, he twitched slightly.

"I'm sure I can figure something out."


	3. Bless

The early moring came soon enough. Some guardians would go sleepless for weeks; dead people had no need for luxury. Others would take the advantage of rest and wake when they needed to. Lushia usually didn't rest; exos didn't need that either. She hadn't in a while.

There was a soft, gold ray of light shining through the widow. It was best to wake up early to go out into the world again. She wanted to get up out of bed, but something within her weighed her down. Instead, she rested her head on Sergio's chest.

A hand came upon her head and the titan let out a breath. He placed a kiss on the exo's head.

"Morning, Lu," he said. The exo pulled him close as an embrace before sitting up.

"We should probably get going," the exo said distantly. Sergio sat up next to her.

"It's still early. We don't have any missions, as far as I'm concerned." 

"I see what you're doing Serge." Lushia hit his arm softly. "Trying to make me stay." Despite her words, the titan pecked her lips and pulled her close again.

The two guardians stayed in the embrace for a while. Lushia, of course, was the first to get up. As she began to dress into her usual armor, the titan laid back down.

"You can stay here if you want, but I'm going out. I need to complete some transactions." The exo kept her helmet off and turned for the door.

"What, you don't need me?" Sergio joked from the other side of the room. Lushia cast him a sarcastic side look.

"Of course I need you," the exo said. "I'm just saying that if you want to stay here while I do not-so-fun things, then you can." 

Sergio got up quickly and walked towards the hunter. 

"I know what you meant, Lu," the titan said softly. He cupped the back of her head and held his forehead to hers. "I'll come with you." The exo placed a hand on his. "Also, you're very good with your hands." His hand traveled down.

"Shut up," Lushia said and broke free of the embrace. She felt oddly proud of the sounds she made him make last night.

"I'll get dressed, how does that sound?" The titan said, earning a glance from Lushia. Smiling to himself, he turned to wake his ghost. .


	4. Wonders

The morning winter air was crisp and the smell of snow lingered in it. Brilliant rays of light formed an eclipse-like effect for the Traveler, pouring into the peaceful City below. How beautiful it was to see what guardians had been fighting for.

Lushia had Master Rahool decrypt some engrams she found on her patrols on Venus. No new armor of course, just some Spirit Blooms and Glimmer. Typical. Sergio was somewhere socializing with other guardians and chasing a ball as the exo finished errands. Lushia traveled down to the Hall of Guardians. Eris was murmuring about the Hive and Oryx in her green corner. She usually had sympathy for the green-eyed woman each time she saw her. The absence of Light in her soul must have been haunting as were the the dark memories of the moon burned into her mind. 

Lord Shaxx stood triumphantly at his desk surrounded by red walls decorated with Ahamkara skulls and Vex weapons and Cabal firearms. He greeted Lushia proudly as she approached him.

"Ah, Lushia-5! Haven't seen you in the Crucible lately." The exo had nothing to trade or buy from him, but she liked to have short conversations with the titan.

"My apologies, Shaxx. I've been busy with patrols, but I'll try to get back soon." Lushia realized that she hadn't been competing a lot. "I see Eyana-87 has topped this weeks leaderboard." 

"Yeah, lots of warlocks are doing well. But once you're back you'll show 'em how it's done. We need your agility and skill in there." The Crucible handler chuckled and stepped back. "Anyways, get on with your day. I won't waste your time."

"See you later," the exo said before heading to the Vanguard table. 

She only needed to check in with Cayde and she would be done with errands. A weekly visit was needed to measure her mission statistics and whatnot. 

"Hey there, guardian," Cayde said as she came near. "Lushia-5, right?" 

"You are correct, sir," Lushia replied. "How am I doing this week?" The hunter Vanguard brought up a tablet and checked her ID.

"Well, you've completed lots of patrols. Venus, eh? The Vex are little shits, aren't they?" The female exo laughed at his comment.

"Cayde," Ikora warned from the other side of the table.

"My mistake. Architects of ancient and complex time structure mumbo jumbo things that I really don't care much about." Ikora rolled her eyes at him and continued skimming over an old book. Lushia tried not to laugh.

"Looking good, 5." Cayde lowered his voice to a whisper. "I don't have any missions for you—don't tell anyone—so just go where you want for now. Good luck out there, guardian." Lushia saluted to him and turned away.

 

She found Serge at the Tower plaza climbing a tree. 

"Leave the tree climbing for the hunters, Serge," she called. At her voice the titan jumped down and did an unnecessary roll onto the ground. The exo began laughing as he fell into the melted snow.

"Come on, silly."

"Just trying to have fun, Lu," the titan said as he collected himself.

"Looked like you had a lot," Lushia said as she swept some ice off of his hair. The titan took the hunter's hand in his and they began to walk to the front of the tower.

The two guardians peered down onto the city below. There were so many families living down there. Families that guardians like Lushia and Sergio were protecting. Lushia never got tired of taking in the view of the city.

She suddenly felt a tug at her cloak and looked down. Her breath almost caught in her throat as she beheld a small Awoken child standing below her. He looked to be around three years of age. His eyes glowed a brilliant golden-yellow against his dark blue skin and silvery hair. He was smiling with pure childlike curiosity up at the gray robot who almost mirrored him with surprise.

"Nova!" An Awoken woman chased after her child and pulled him back. "Im terribly sorry, Guardian," she said to Lushia.

The two guardians knelt down to the child's level. Nova's mother sat down in the grass.

"Please don't apologize," Lushia said. She studied the boy. "He's beautiful."

"Thank you," his mother said, smiling. Nova was still smiling as well as he looked up to the titan. He recognized the human, but the exo interested him. He knew she was a robot. He liked her cape. Her mouth glowed the color of his skin when she spoke. 

"How old is he?" Sergio asked.

"He's almost three." Nova's mother ruffled his hair. "His daddy's a guardian. We come up to the tower to visit him from time to time."

The Awoken child scampered towards the exo and raised a hand. Lushia couldn't help but chuckle a bit at his innocence and bewilderment.

"I think he's facinated with those antennae on your head." The Awoken woman looked cautious. 

"Touch?" The boy's word came out in a small voice which made Lushia's heart melt.

"Is it alright?" The exo said and looked at the mother who nodded and smiled. She bent forward and felt his small fingers running along her right antenna. The boy smiled and walked back toward his mother.

The three started a conversation which contained questions mostly from Nova's mother who was named Taelin. The whole time Lushia felt a tug in her chest. The child was so beautiful and innocent and she wondered what it would be like to be a parent. She remembered it would be physically impossible and abandoned that thought.

"We'd better get back home," Taelin said. "It was an honor to meet you two." She picked up her boy who was still beaming at the armored soldiers. His pudgy hand waved "good-bye".

"Thank you," Sergio said as they went separate ways.

Lushia was smiling on the inside as she walked with her titan around the tower.

"You'd be a good mom, Lu." Sergio leaned againt the hunter who laughed.

"I can't be a mother. I'm an exo, remember?" Lushia tilted her head on the titan's shoulder.

"But you could be a parent. I can see it happening, honestly." Sergio squeezed her hand. 

"Guardian?" Lushia suddenly heard her Ghost. She outstretched her hand as she hovered over her palm. "You two have recieved an urgent message from Lord Saladin."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It'll take a while for me to write more chapters. Stay tuned!


	5. Rendezvous

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've used some gameplay dialogue and cut some out because they weren't necessarily needed

"So, where is the Iron Temple?" The guardians' ghosts hadn't given them an exact location before they put them in their ships. Lushia was calm, but the uncertainty of the mission stirred beneath her circuits. 

"Lord Saladin says that it's outside of an area of the Cosmordome called the Plaguelands," Lushia's ghost said. "Doesn't sound like a friendly place." The exo nodded as her ghost told her the coordinates. Sergio's voice came through the speaker of the dashboard.

"Apparently we're part of a fireteam, Lu," he said. Lushia turned her head toward her ghost abruptly.

"I forgot to mention that." She rolled her eyes at her ghost's forgetfulness. 

"I know you don't favor working in groups, but Saladin says this requires more than two people." The exo frowned and despite her bloodlust, she dreaded the thought of arriving at the temple. 

"What could require more than two people?"

"Fallen and SIVA," Lushia's ghost said finally.

"Now you tell me something?" The ghost hovered downward at the exo's displeasure.

"The team assembly is based on our Crucible standards and patrol completion...kind of a strange way to put it together," Sergio continued.

"How do you even know about this?" Lushia asked. 

"My ghost told me." 

The exo turned her eyes to the floating robot below her. The ghost was turned away shamefully.

"I guess we won't be seeing Saladin during Iron Banner anymore," Lushia said as four more ships came into view.

 

 

"A group of Fallen has captured Felwinter Peak." Lord Saladin's voice came through the intercoms clearly. "My team and I are en route, but we won't get there in time. I need you six guardians to secure the observatory at the top. It is imperative that the Fallen to not establish a foothold on that mountain."

The fireteam appeared on the snowy terrain. There were two warlocks, two titans, and two hunters. It was almost too perfect. 

"So who's our leader, eh?" The other titan said from the back of he group. 

"That would be me," one of the warlocks said. Lushia was somehow comforted by her voice. "We need to make our way up this rock. Expect Fallen resistance. Shouldn't be too hard to fight past some Eliksni; we've been doing it since we were ressurected." The warlock turned and began the trek up the mountain.

In times like these Lushia would usually distance herself from Sergio. The titan didn't take it personally, though. Often he would still look out for her when he was with her; it's what he felt was necessary. The exo began to walk, but was caught off guard when a hand abruptly fell on her shoulder. 

"I've seen you before," the hunter said to Lushia. "You were in the Crucible lest week, weren't you?" She laughed and waited for the exo's response.

"You two. Catch up with the group," the commanding warlock yelled from the front. The two hunters jogged up to the others. 

"My name's Giana by the way," said the hunter beside Lushia.

"I'm Lushia-5." Giana patted her shoulder as a "nice to meet you" before running up to the front to socialize with the other guardians. Sergio then slowed down and walked beside Lushia.

"See? You're making friends. Being part of a group isn't so bad," he joked. 

"This is just the start. Let's see where we're at once the fun begins." Lushia felt relieved as they turned the corner and saw a group of Devils at the ready.


	6. Ascension

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The guardians fight their way to they top of the mountain

The exo warlock reacted first: she hit a red shank with a single bullet from her scout rifle, sending it flying over the edge of the path. Another one of her bullets landed in the second shank which caused a small implosion. Lushia had a small feeling of defeat since she hadn't been fast enough to kill one. A solution to this came when the group continued up the path to find a large group of dregs disturbed by the small attack on the shanks. Giana used a double jump, teleporting towards the group and plunging her knife into one of their Fallen necks. Lushia tossed a void grenade at three dregs huddled by a rock, watching them burn in the purple fire. She reveled in the feeling of satisfaction. The fight had begun.

The other titan on the team began firing his pulse rifle as Sergio ran up and hit two dregs with his shotgun. Giana went like a berserker and sliced the throats of vandals and dregs, spilling their blood on the white snow.

"5, watch your six!" At the leader's voice Lushia whipped around and stabbed two dregs. She frowned at her own ignorance. How had she not noticed them? Perhaps it was the blinding light reflecting off of the snow.

The group of guardians encountered a few more vandals in an old broken and exposed building. The Fallen atop the mountain were armed with daggers and were more agile than the Devils that roamed the Cosmodrome. When the vandals had been taken care of, the team found themselves near an extremely old gondola attatched to a cable that looked well over worn out. The fireteam leader summoned her ghost and motioned it towards the control box, which had not been tampered with or activated in centuries. The real problem came when the ghost was done.

"There is no way in hell that we're all going to fit on that. There will be too much weight," the second titan said as if it wasn't obvious.

"No shit, Saul," Giana retorted.

"Shut up, Giana" Saul said.

"We aren't," the commanding warlock said. "Liall and I will glide and you four can board the gondola." The other warlock on the team stepped up onto the gondola. He wore robes of the Dead Orbit faction, almost twinning with the fireteam leader. With the two warlocks on top of the car, the four guardians stepped aboard cautiously.

Sergio summoned his own ghost to tamper with another control box as soon as they were all on the gondola.

"I hope you don't consider this 'hacking', guardian," he said to his titan.

"It isn't?" At her titan's comment Lushia slapped his arm with the back of her hand. She loved him, but he could be so foolish at times.

"It's literally pressing buttons and flipping switches." The ghost finished "hacking" the controls and the gondola started to move with a jolt.

The guardians noticed the shattered windows which could only mean no good. Lushia felt a chill course through her body from either uneasiness or simply the cold from the mountain. The two warlocks above remained airborne and occasionally stepped back on the surface to regain energy. As the rusted car shakily moved forward, the four noticed a Fallen Skiff nearing the surface of the mountain.

"You two up there, we got company," Giana yelled as she crouched down, readying her sniper. The four guardians in the gondola did the same as the warlocks stayed in the air. Sniper vandals spilled out of the Skiff, beginning their assault on the moving car. Lushia threw another grenade at the largest bunch of vandals. She threw the smoke detonator into the gondola, making the team invisible. They practically hugged the walls of the car, careful not to get hit from the arc beams darting towards them.

"You have a good arm, Lushia," the second hunter said as she severed a vandal head with a sniper bullet. The exo wasn't able to respond before Sergio took a hit to the shoulder. He cried out in pain and tried to stifle the burn running through his arm and chest.

"Serge, you good?" Lushia asked between shots from her own sniper. He let out a pained grunt in response. More Skiffs and vandals attacked the fireteam, each group more relentless than the last.

A direct shot from a Skiff sent the entire side of the car flying.

"Get off of this metal box!" At the warlock's call, all six of the guardians jumped down towards a snowy hill, rolling on the way down. Lushia dug her fingers into the snow to try to stop the fall and only ground the water into her armor. The titans tumbled down heavily, armor clanking against armor. The warlocks glided down with a noticeable lack of energy. Giana was the only one to fall gracefully into the snow.

"Get up," the exo warlock ordered. The guardians rediscovered their weapons that they had dropped and brushed off the snow. As they collected themselves, they began walking once more.

The fireteam encountered more and more of the fallen as they speckled the snow with red. The wind blew more violently as they continued up the pass. They went through a thin ridge that was decorated with menacing icicles that Lushia was intrigued by. The winding paths continued and the guardians noticed more human-made buildings and stairways. Fallen were woven throughout each one of the buildings.

"We're almost to the top." Everyone's voice was difficult to hear in the middle of rough winds and enemy fire.

"Good, because I'm starting to really get pissed about these Eliksni scums being all over the damn place," Saul yelled.

"Just keep pushing through. We have to make it to-" The warlock was cut off at the sight of the all-too-familiar servitor waiting for them in the sky


	7. Guardians

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The killing of Sepiks Prime and the introduction of the guardians

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not going to lie, this is not my best chapter (I might edit it in the future), but it introduces the four other guardians in the fireteam.

"Oh look, it's purple eyeball dude," Giana noted sarcastically. "Except, you know, he's not purple anymore..." Her voice trailed off as she studied the new features to the prime servitor.

"Sepiks Prime?" Lushia exclaimed. "I thought he was dead."

Saul dodged a swing of a vandal's arm and struck it so that it disintegrated into void. "He was," he said as he struck a dreg, "then I guess SIVA resurrected him."

"Guardians!" Saladin's voice cut through their intercom speakers. "You need prevent the Devils and Sepiks from entering the temple at all costs!" The servitor teleported towards the guardians and tried to feed upon them. The red beam of draining energy created a vortex in front of the eye. They dodged the attack and fired at the ball. 

Most of the fallen were dead at the moment, leaving Sepiks the only one left. The fireteam raced through the doors marked with the Iron Lord insignia and across an unsteady wooden bridge. A growl came from the servitor as the guardians attacked him. 

Giana's hunter blade changed until it was composed of pure arc energy and she darted toward Sepiks. She slashed at it's metal plates and SIVA-infested machinery. She had done quite a lot of damage because he teleported to another area, abandoning the guardian and leaving her to fall onto the ground.

Sergio was next to use his Light. He burst into solar flames and hurled glowing hammers at the orb. Lushia felt the familiar surge of energy and fired an arrow at the prime, tethering it in place. While Sergio and the two hunters attacked Sepiks with their Light, the other three guardians fought off vandals that appeared rather sneakily. Lushia fired another arrow as the void energy ran out. The servitor fired at the pillars of the Iron Temple.

He teleported away abruptly, but Sergio chucked one last glowing hammer and the servitor imploded, circuits spinning out of control. His remains scattered across the snow. Sergio felt triumphant and saw Lord Saladin's ship nearing. He appeared before the team holding a machine gun that none of the guardians recognized.

"Great work, guardians," he said. "I cannot thank you enough for securing the area." He scanned the fireteam and walked to the entrance of the temple. The guardians looked at one another before following the elder titan into the halls.

-  
"Thanks to you six, Felwinter Peak is secure." Lord Saladin had told the fireteam the stories of the Iron Lords and how they tried stop SIVA. The guardians gratefully absorbed the information about the Fallen and SIVA. 

"Why aren't we out in the Cosmodrome or Plagueands fighting off the Fallen then?" Saul asked. Saladin looked at the titan.

"I have sent the word to a few others that I believe can complete analysis tasks in the Cosmodrome. They will gather information to help you six. You guardians are assigned more elite tasks and you hold the responsibility of defeating the Devils' strongest forces."

It made sense. They were the first to enter the mountain and face the Devils. The other teams would take care of the rest until further notice.

The vanguard scout, Shiro-4, showed The guardians to the living areas on the mountain. They retired there for a few moments to aid their weapons and armor.

"Might as well introduce ourselves, eh?" Saul stood in the further of the room with his arms crossed. "I'm Saul Dallan." The titan was a somewhat young Awoken and had gray-blue skin tone. He had no hair and tired eyes.

"Giana Reev," the hunter said. She moved her black bangs out of her face with a small flick of her neck. Her skin was an attractive purple-blue that fit well with the black, fanned out hair. Her eyes were a piecing green that bore into anyone's gaze.

"Liall Jovax." The quiet warlock had gray shoulder-length hair that reminded Lushia of the child at the Tower. His skin looked gray and his eyes seemed disturbed. Typical for a warlock.

"Eyana-87," the fireteam leader sighed.

Lushia remembered the name from the Crucible leader board and felt oddly intimidated. Her metal plates were dark gray which contrasted against her gleaming white eyes. Plated horns on her forehead topped off the menacing look. Her Dead Orbit robes almost matched with Liall's.

Sergio and Lushia introduced themselves and the guardians were left in an awkward silence. The exo felt tense and could escape the feeling nipping at her mind. After a short glance at Sergio, she stood up and left the room.


	8. That Damn Warlock

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Temple walls make people crazy

Lushia had almost made her way to the outside of the temple before she heard a voice.

"You, exo." The hunter was startled to see Liall leaning casually on a wall. How had he gotten there before her? "Lushia-5, yes?"

The hunter nodded and noticed that his strange accent caused him to a pronounce the "i" in her name incorrectly and arrange the syllables differently. Not that it reality mattered to the exo.

She retracted when he narrowed his glowing amber eyes at her, strands of translucent hair falling in his face.

"I have noticed a subtle discomfort coming from you. I can see it in your movements." Lushia was a bit thrown off by this. Had he been watching her this whole time?

"You look far ahead into the future, 5," he continued. The young warlock leaned close. "That titan...Sergio? You share a bond, yet you push him away. You're stopped by something." 

The exo remained mute. 

"You're spending your time looking ahead when you already have so much in front of you, " he whispered. A far-away look possessed his eyes. "You desire a life of your own. One with him."

"How do you know this?" Lushia finally choked out. She hadn't noticed her own hand griping her knife. 

"I don't and I didn't," Liall shrugged. "Exos are particularly easier to read. Though artificial, your minds are infinite. Always questioning life."

"Do you know things about Eyana?" Lushia asked. 

"Oh, many things," Liall replied, a small flame floating in his hand. "Yes, she is quite unique. Her number, 87. She's had many exo forms. Many resets. Too many memories burned within her."

"So she's had multiple bodies," Lushia clarified, and Liall nodded.

"Yes." He lowered his voice. "To me she is more of a teacher than a friend. I am like her acolyte." He leaned back against the wall and looked up. "Learn from what you encounter, hunter." Liall glanced at her and turned to leave. 

The exo stood frozen in place, mulling over what she had just been told. Her ghost was right. Warlocks were a bit crazy. 

Crazy or very wise.

Forgetting about her destination, she went back into the temple. Her feet splashed in little puddles as she walked, the soles of her boots thudding on the stone. 

When she came in through the archway she saw Eyana standing before the statutes. The exo warlock seemed to twitch with little bolts of electricity. Lushia noted that she was a Stormcaller and snuck past her.

Too many memories burned within her

-

"Hey, Sergio." The exo was surprised to see her titan still sitting on one of the makeshift cots in the now empty room. When he didn't respond she spoke again. "Serge?"

"Hi," he said hesitantly. He looked at her with almost sheepish eyes and motioned toward her arm. 

"You all right?" Lushia asked, taking his hand. Sergio, the strong and relentless titan, never acted this way. He pulled her close and hugged her waist, burying his forehead into her abdomen.

"I love you," he said, his voice strained as if he was crying. 

Lushia remembered what Liall said about pushing him away. There was a bond between them, a strong one. The warlock's words had messed up her thoughts and twisted her reality. That damn Warlock.

 

"I love you too," she said as he hugged his head in response. This time she really meant it. She closed her eyes and whispered again, "I love you too."

Lushia started blankly at the wall behind the titan and noticed a cobweb on the old walls. When Sergio's hold softened the exo sat beside him.

"Why were you still down here?" she asked as he leaned on her shoulder.

"Aren't you a little worried about this one?" At this the exo remembered her own tense feelings she had earlier for the same reason. That is, before the Sunsinger spoke incantations to her.

"Why should I be?" Her words sounded more harsh than she intended. She softened her tone. "After the Taken? The Hive? Oryx?"

"This is different. Oryx couldn't take guardians like he did with the Fallen or Vex. We've known the Fallen for years, but now that they have SIVA..." Sergio flicked his head to her suddenly. "What does this mean for us, Lu?" 

The titan's worry faded as the exo's lips met his. As he leaned back into the cot he remembered when the love between them was just beginning to bloom. How he would calm her when she was angry. Looking after her no matter how much she felt she didn't need it. When she was still nervous to kiss him. 

He placed his hand in the back of her neck to hold her closer, wanting more of her. Eyes fluttering shut, he kissed back deeply. Lushia was almost on top of him in an awkward embrace, armor against armor. She pulled away when she heard his breath quicken. 

"We'll be okay, Serge," Lushia said as their lips parted. "I hate to say it, but I think the other guardians on this team have potential. Besides"- she kissed his forehead -"You killed Sepiks Prime. That's something to be proud of." A faint smile appeared on the human's face and he sat up. 

"You are my Light, Lushia-5" he said.

"I love you, Sergio Gaden."

The two looked at each other before they both burst out laughing. 

"Let's go get some air," the exo said, hysteria still in her voice. "This temple is driving me crazy."

Lacing his fingers with hers, Sergio smiled and they were on their way down Lushia's previous path.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to clarify, Sergio's nickname is pronounced like "surge" not Sergee. Giana's name is pronounced with a hard G.


	9. What's Done is Done

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Saul is an asshole.

"Hey, Shiro, what do these wolves eat?" Giana outstretched her hand to one of the wolves roaming around the mountain.

"They just pick on anything they can scavenge," the Vanguard scout said. "They'll have a good time with the dead Fallen that are still here."

Shiro watched as Giana produced a small package that contained bits of preserved meat. She knelt down and held it to the wolf, who sniffed it curiously before nibbling it out of her fingers. The Bladedancer made little cooing noises as she fed it another and stroked it's ears.

"Still hanging around animals, huh?" Saul came up behind Giana rather abruptly. 

"Jealous?" The hunter tucked away the pouch into her pocket and felt annoyance creep into her. The wolf cocked its head to the side and sat on front of the Awoken. 

"And why would I be jealous of a wolf again?"

"It's gotten closer to me than you ever did. And will." The hunter sighed and turned to him. "Just stay away from me, Saul."

The Defender came dangerously close to her. "You won't be saying that when there's no one else left for you but me. Besides, we're stuck together until this stupid mission is done." Saul turned to the wolf who was snarling at him.

"I said stay away from me." Giana glared at him, ready to strike if necessary.

"What's the problem here, guardians?" Shiro intercepted. Giana's eyes stayed bolted to Saul, who turned coyly to the scout.

"Just...chatting with an old friend." His voice was disturbingly sinister topped with an ugly smirk. Giana stormed away from him, but he followed without hesitation. The hunter stopped when he grabbed her shoulder and pulled them behind a rock out of earshot.

In a blink, Giana swung at him, finally at her wits end. Saul was too quick and caught her by the arm, his grip almost crushing her wrist. She swung again with her other arm, getting caught again. The Awoken yelped as Saul stepped on her foot before she could raise her leg. 

"Damn it, Giana," the titan said. "Just can't accept it, can you? You're too much of a dyke to let me in." 

The Defender began to lean in for her mouth before Lushia's hand came over his face. She jerked his neck back with a jolt of her arm, sending him reeling and letting go of the other hunter. 

"Leave her alone," the exo said, a hardness within her voice. The Bladedancer behind her lunged for him. Staring at the titan, Lushia held out an arm to stop her.

"What do you know, exo? You're just a machine that doesn't understand emotions or relationships." He tapped the top of her head. 

"What would you know about her?!" Sergio pushed him back, sending him into the snow. "She isn't just a machine." 

Saul recovered and clenched his fingers around Sergio's jaw, pushing him against a large rock. The sound of his armor clashing with the boulder sent Lushia over to him. Saul cried out as the exo gripped his throat and stuck his nose, the metal knuckles on her gloves splitting his skin.

"Do not touch him again." The exo tightened her grip on his throat before Sergio pulled her away from him. 

Lushia didn't try to resist against his hold. What needed to be done was done. After choking out pained coughs, Saul finally managed to say, "Funny. Didn't know hunters could punch." He uncovered his nose to reveal dark red smearing the lower half of his face. 

"What's going on here?!" Shiro was finally at the scene. Lushia silently thanked him, despite his late arrival. Was yelling not enough to get his attention? "I will not tolerate this from guardians on this mountain. You're too important to tear eachother apart." He pointed at Saul. "You. Leave the hunter alone." After earning an innocent expression from the Defender, he was walking away. 

"I don't care how important this mission is, 5. Don't think that I won't kill you along the way." Saul glared at the Lushia, then Giana. "I'll be here for you, Gigi." Clutching his nose, he awkwardly ran off.

Lushia looked down, hoping to see some red on the snow. To her disappointment there was not a single spot of blood. Almost forgetting that Giana was still there, she was startled at her voice.

"Thanks, you know, for...that," she said. "Asshat deserved it." She crossed her arms casually and flicked her head. 

"Why don't I leave you two alone," Sergio huffed, releasing the exo. 

Oh no. She must have done something that made him say this. "Where are you going?"

"Just giving you some time to calm down, Lu." The irritation in his voice shook her. She began pondering all of the things she did wrong in the past five minutes, regretting every strike she made towards Saul. But she was doing it to defend Sergio. What was the harm in that?

Watching his footsteps in the snow made her want to reach out to apologize. Even so, she had thought it herself: what needed to be done was done.

A hand came to her shoulder lightly.

"Want to hang with me for a bit? I've collected some interesting stuff from the early 2000's that might take your mind off of things." The Awoken's eyes intrigued the exo, that brilliant green sparkling against the soft purple- blue. 

The exo nodded. "Yeah, uh...sure." At that Giana's face widened into a warm smile and Lushia felt some strange attraction to her. Looking closely, she noticed silver wisps swirling in her face, making her even more beautiful, she thought. She did her next to imitate a metal smile as they began walking across the creaky bridge


	10. Treasures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Giana is the only normal one

Lushia sat down on one of the stone benches by one of the windows. She tried to take her mind off of Sergio and focus on Giana who was sitting across from her on the same bench.

"Zivya," Giana nodded to her ghost hovering next to her. The blue ghost brought forth little objects that seemed to appear out of the air in front of the hunters. The exo beheld Giana's collection with awe.

"Where did you find all of this?" The exo's eyes were glued to the treasures between them.

"Lots of it came from old North America." The Awoken took off her gloves and opened the plastic package with the preserved meat again. "Thanks to Zivya here, it's become one of my favorite places. It's better than Old Russia in terms of Hive infestation."

Lushia picked up a little cube with blue buttons all around it. She pressed one down with her finger, a clicking noise soon following. She rolled it around in her hand, finding more buttons to click and turn.

"What is this?" She looked up at Giana who was chewing a piece of preserved meat. 

"I'm not sure what it is. I think it was made before 2020. Some type of toy or something." Giana leaned her head peacefully against the wall, looking out the window to the snow.

Lushia scanned over the objects and recognized a few. Some playing cards, what looked like a bird skull, a wooden horse, a broken necklace, and an arrow head. Each was covered in dirt and grime, of course.

Giana patted her pocket. "Damn. There was this other cube thing that you might have liked, but I think I lost it."

"How long have you been collecting?"

"Ever since I was brought back which was, oh, about twelve years ago. Guess you could say I'm kind of old, but at least guardians don't really age like we did before we died."

"Twelve years?" Lushia tried to shut herself up as she noticed everything coming out of her mouth was a question. 

Giana nodded.

"So you've been through a lot, then." Another nod.

"Yep. Seen a lot, done a lot. Died plenty of times. In the end, it's all the same shit." The Awoken's emerald eyes gazed out the large pane-less window, finally on something other than the exo. Her face was strangely pensive, as if she could see what monstrosities the Splicers were cooking up in the Cosmodrome.

The exo put down the cube and averted her eyes to the mountain across the makeshift bridge. What was she looking for? She was secretly wishing for Sergio to come down and talk, for him to answer her silent call. Who was supposed to apologize, if anyone? 

Memories of past times drifted into the exo's mind. Spending time in the snow with Serge, giving each other gifts during the Festival of the Lost, and of course Crimson Days. She wanted him back. His smile, his touch, and perhaps his forgiveness. Just him.

"Hey." Lushia's eyes darted back to the sweet voice. "Don't worry too much about him. Relax, okay?" Giana gave a little smile. Everything about her seemed so humane, she thought. "Love is weird isn't it? Sometimes it makes us crazy."

The exo nodded as a breeze blew by. Giana's cloak with the Osiris Eye enveloped her almost gracefully. The fire in the fire pit near them dimmed as the night began. 

"It's getting dark. Want to go back? I mean, if you, uh, get cold, that is. And of you don't we can stay out-"

"Yes," Lushia said so that Giana wouldn't ramble on. "Yes, let's go." She helped bunch up Giana's collection as the blue ghost made them vanish. 

"I don't trust this bridge," Giana giggled as they made their way back to the only light on the snowy peak.


	11. Not According to Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes the things you love most are the scariest things to confront.

"Do you sleep?" Giana asked, voice echoing slightly on the walls. They were the same as the temple walls, glowing with golden light of the fire pits. This area was more like a bunker than anything else. Lushia couldn't tell, but she guessed the place did not smell pleasant.

"Occasionally," the exo replied, walking with her. "I often find no need for it." She thought of last night in Sergio's arms, feeling more peaceful than ever. Thinking of Sergio made her feel more regret. 

"I sleep when I can," Giana said, flicking her bangs. "It's fun to pretend to be normal-ish."

Lushia didn't hear Giana speaking. She only thought of where the others were. No sign of Saul and his bloodied nose or the warlocks. She already knew where the other titan might be.

"Look," the exo said, stopping them both. "I need to talk to Sergio for a bit."

"Okay," Giana said. "Do what you gotta do, girl. I'll just be winding down for the night." She gave the exo a tight smile and turned down one of the halls, leaving Lushia alone to face what awaited her.

-

 

"So you're back?" Sergio said as if he was dreading this moment as much a Lushia was.

"I'm back? You're the one that stormed off." The exo leaned on the bunk bed frame above the titan, regretting that sentence. 

"Whatever." Drawing in a breath, he shifted to look up at her. "You've got to control yourself, Lu."

"He slammed you against a damn boulder. I was just trying to...protect you, Serge." 

"Protect me? I can't defend myself now, is that it?" 

"You didn't do anything before," she muttered. "I'm sorry." 

"I don't need you to defend me, Lu." 

"He was being reckless and--"

"Uh-huh...yeah, reckless is the word. That's probably how you see all titans. And you hunters are all independent. Better off withou--"

"SERGIO, JUST STOP!" The exo slammed the bed frame with the side of her first. "Where is all of this coming from?"

The titan looked back down at the floor and shook his head. The thin mattress shifted as the hunter sat next to him. "Sometimes I wonder of you even need me." 

"Of course I need you. I love you." She reached for his hand, but he pulled it away before they could meet. In her head their fingers were together. They were closer and one of them had owned up to being wrong. Everything was fine and back to normal. 

"Do you?" he asked. 

Realizing that she was reclining, Lushia repeated the question in her head once. Twice. And then it was too late to respond. 

"Just go, Lu." The exo glanced at the titan next to her and stood up, almost hitting her head on the frame. Digging her fingers into the palm of her hand, she left the titan alone. 

-

"How'd it go?" 

The exo's eyes were downcast as she shook her head. "Not as planned."

"I'm sorry," Giana said, focusing on the exo's dim eyes. The two were silent for a moment before Giana looked back up. "Are you going to be okay?"

"I think so." The exo grazed her soft, blue skin and noticed battle scars written in her arms and chest. A faint hunter symbol tattoo rested on her left shoulder. 

"Well... if you need someone to talk to, come wake me up. I won't mind," the Awoken said. Those brilliant green eyes glowed as she brushed her dark bangs back and smiled.

Lushia nodded as the hunter retired to her own cot. 

Desire for comfort threatened to pull her to one of her friends. She wanted to try again with Sergio or see that warm smile from Giana. She stood idle, thoughts knotted. 

When her legs began to carry her to neither of those places, she realized the only thing she wanted to be was alone...in the cold.


	12. Reunited

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The warlocks are up to something and things advance for Sergio and Lushia

As the exo wound her way through the temple, she heard what sounded like speaking. Making sure to stay as quiet as possible, she peaked around the corner of one of the walls. Liall and Eyana sat across from each other, holding each other's wrists.

"Try to remember, Liall," Eyana said, her voice tired. Lushia's eyes fell on their wrists. Bolts of electricity flickered from the horned exo to the Awoken. 

"I can't see anything," Liall croaked, his eyes fluttering. "It's all too bright."

"Try. Try to remember who you were." Liall drew in a sharp breath suddenly. His face contorted onto a knot of confusion as if he had just discovered the most important secret in his life. And maybe he had, Lushia thought. 

The Awoken let out a strained breath before wrenching his hands away.

"What did you see?" Eyana's white eyes were alert now.

The Sunsinger hesitated as his face loosened and his eyes opened slowly. "I...I lost it." He looked down shamefully as Eyana let out a sigh.

"We'll try again later," she said.

"How did you remember your past lives so well?" 

Eyana looked him dead in the eyes. "Exos are the ones that are more likely to remember them. I'm doing this because you have the potential, Liall." 

Lushia flipped back behind the wall as they turned their heads so she wouldn't be seen. She recalled Liall's words about Eyana and what she'd been through. About her memories. And Eyana had just said that exos could remember their past lives. 

And if this was true, then how come she couldn't remember her life? Did she even have one before she became a hunter? Had five system wipes really erased all that existed in her before?

-

Lushia looked up at the dark purple sky, searching for the moon. Hoping that there was at least a little bit of light in the dark.

She sat near a dark fire pit, legs hanging off of the edge of the platform. Her eyes hovered over the glowing Cosmodrome, wondering what sort of hell the Fallen were brewing down there. Sepiks Prime only gave her a feel of what SIVA was like. She wondered what it had done to the Fallen. If it augmented their bodies and how. How powerful they might be because of it.

The hunter felt a nudge at her shoulder and heard a huff. She looked over to see one of the large wolves. Its face looked creased from snarles and its fur was matted. What surprised the exo was when it let out a slight whimper, then settled its head down into her lap.

Lushia stared at it for a while, unsure of what to do. A feeling that she got when she saw the child at the Tower returned. The feeling even reminded her of Sergio. The wolf placed a paw on her knee and exhaled. Seeing the animal's closed eyes made her feel so at peace and even comforted. She lifted a hand to run her gloved fingers along its neck.

Pushing out the softness, she averted her eyes to the snow on the platform. Holding the fingertip of the glove in her mouth, she pulled it off and picked up a bit of snow. The exo watched it for a while to see if it would melt. When it didn't, she tossed it over the edge.

As much as Lushia wanted to be out there fighting the Fallen, she couldn't help but feel scared. She wasn't sure if that fear came from the thought of working with five other guardians, or more from what resided in the Plaguelands. 

The wolf huffed again and she scratched the bottom of its chin.

The exo began to put her glove back on when she noticed more snow falling from the sky. The wolf suddenly lifted itself off of her lap and looked around. Lushia started to hear the howls chiming over the mountain, an eerie tune floating within them. Beside her, the wolf lifted its head to join in, completing the song. Lushia closed her eyes and listened. How beautiful it was to hear the animals singing in unison. 

Their howls faded away and the wolf settled back down to the floor of the platform. The hunter swung her legs back over and stood, flipping her hood up to defend herself against the snow. She made her way back up the stairs and into the temple, unsure, really, of where to go. 

Staying quiet, she made her way past where the warlocks were and into the bunker rooms. Everything was neutral until she bumped into someone. 

"Oh! Uh...Lu," Sergio collected himself as the hunter stumbled back nervously. When the hunter didn't say anything, the titan hesitated. "Where were you?"

"Outside." 

"Lu," he began, "I'm sorry for snapping. It had nothing to do with you, and I was just so worked up that I ended up-"

"I'm sorry too," Lushia said. "But you were right, I need to control myself. I got pissed off and it was the first thing that came to mind." 

Sergio smirked nudged her hood off. "What I said back there wasn't me. And besides, I'm quite fond of that fierce, fearless hunter that I fell in love with two years ago." His hand slipped behind her neck and he looked down into her purple eyes.

She tried to resist the urge to lean in and meet his lips, which were spreading into a smile. The two guardians stood gazing at each other for a moment, before the exo began to lead him back to the sleeping area.

 

"So I guess we've made up, yeah?" Sergio said, before pressing his lips on the exo's jaw piece. His kisses traveled down her neck, with the exo's arms wrapped around his.

Lushia let out a soft breath as he leaned down so he was above her, hands at her waist, armor against armor. She held one of his hands as a warning and looked up at him.

"Serge, we're in the Iron Temple, with statues to honor the dead. Shouldn't we do this when we aren't in their presence?" Seeing his smile, she realized that her words were no use. 

"I'm sure the Iron Lords won't mind." Tipping her chin upwards, he planted a deep and longing kiss on the exo's cold, metal lips. 

 

The snowstorm had passed and the temple was silent. No guardians awake and no wolves howling. The human and the exo laid down beside one another, finally back in each other's arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are still a fair amount of chapters to this story! If you don't want to miss them, then drop a sub.


	13. Figure it Out

"I hope you're ready to hunt Fallen, guardians." Shiro's voice crackled through Lushia's ship intercom. An image of each guardian was displayed on a screen on the dashboard.

"Ready as ever," Giana's image said. 

It was Lushia's turn to speak. "We barely know anything about the Splicers, though."

"I hate to say it, but I actually agree with the exo on that one."

"Saladin told you that there were other guardians out there, correct?" Shiro asked, moving past Saul's comment. "Lucky for you, they got a lay of the land with enough information about what to expect. I'll be leading you through this once you get down there." With another crackle, he cut off his voice channel. 

As she began to get bored from hovering in her ship, Lushia examined her gloves and picked out some grime from the crevices with her knife. Her eyes darted up to her dashboard as she heard another crackle.

"So, Sergio," Saul began, "how does it feel to be the only human here?" Lushia felt heat rising in her core and sneered at the mere sound of his voice.

"I don't mind it," Sergio replied. "Why, do you have a problem with that?"

"Ignore him. He just likes to pick on people for no reason," Giana pitched in. 

"Gigi, here's a piece of advice: just keep your mouth shut."

"Saul, maybe you should take your own advice for once," Lushia snapped. At his silence, and a giggle from Giana, she smirked with satisfaction. 

"Enough!" Eyana's crisp voice shut all of them up. "Saul and Lushia-5, if you two act up again, I will remove you from the fireteam. Understood?"

Lushia rolled her eyes. "Understood."

"Understood, commander," Saul said.

"Be ready for departure." With that, the audio comm was cut off.

"You don't like that titan very much, do you?"

Lushia turned to her ghost and readied her ship. "That's a bit of an understatement." The red ghost floated down and landed on her lap, her eye looking up at her guardian. 

The exo formed a smile on her face. "Thanks."

"What for?"

"For always being there for me." She lifted the little body up in her hands.

"What about Sergio? He's been there for you, too." The the ghost spun in the air as the hunter leaned forward to the dashboard.

"But you keep me alive." The formation of six ships began to travel, finally moving out of their idle spots and down into the Cosmodrome. "And you're always with me."

Her ghost hovered upwards and tapped her shoulder as an affectionate gesture. Lushia steered her ship to stay in formation with the others, a comfortable silence growing between her and her ghost.

The ship made a mechanical hum as it drifted. The Cosmodrome was in view, the snow glowing a warm yellow. The exo tapped her finger nervously on the ship controls as her eyes landed on destroyed colony ships, jagged metal jutting into the air. 

Flying over the Fallen territory, they all surveyed the land for threats. The grounds were bare with the exception of snow and small buildings. The exo was surprised to see the Plaguelands as desolate as they were, expecting fallen to be spilling onto the grounds. 

But there was so much snow. Last night's storm must have brought more in, completely coating the grounds. Who knew what was buried beneath it.

"The Plagulands, everyone," Eyana said, cutting through the dead silence. "Ghosts, prepare to drop you guardians off here and take care of our ships. Guardians, be ready."

-

"What am I supposed to do with this?!" Sergio hollered through the sounds of gunfire. He held the fusion core away from his face as it sparked in his hands. 

"Switch it with its counterpart!" Eyana struck a vandal twice, making its body disintegrate into arc energy. "It's on the other side of the generator!"

Sergio ran up the stairs, avoiding some of the Fallen strewn on the floor, and around the generator. His eyes widened as he encountered a Servitor and a few other Splicers near his destination. He reached for a grenade on his belt with one hand, careful not to drop the core. Right as he was about to throw it, they went up in flames. Looking past the fire, he saw Liall gliding downwards from the air. 

"Thanks," Sergio said, the sting of defeat in his voice. The warlock said nothing, and nodded. The titan placed the grenade back on his belt since he had not activated yet and it was safe to do so. As he shoved the fusion core into its outlet, he saw Lushia run over to grab the other core. As she yanked it out, she turned to him and fired her hand cannon. 

"Watch out, Serge," she said after effortlessly killing the dreg behind the titan. Sergio turned around and saw the dead dreg, a little ashamed that he hadn't noticed it before. As he pulled his rifle from his back, the generator began to spark, and soon its buzzing stopped. 

"Remind me again why we trusted Sergio with that core? The exo did it so much better." 

"Saul," Eyana warned.

Lushia didn't even acknowledge Saul; she was tired of hearing him.

"Well done," Shiro said, making Giana jump a bit.

"Holy shit, he's still here?" She yelped.

"Yes, I'm still here, but you six need to get moving. The replication chamber isn't too far ahead. Once you take it out, SIVA flow, replication, everything will stop."

Eyana started to walk ahead, five guardians following her lead. Extending her palm, her ghost appeared to scan the room.

"There's a door up ahead that should lead us outside," she said, thrusting her finger forward. "There are mines in the path, so watch your step."

Not even two seconds after the warlock spoke, several shots were fired from behind her. The prismatic mines exploded, bullets disabling them.

Eyana whipped around to see Lushia lowering her sniper. "What are you doing?!"

"No more mines," Lushia said, putting her sniper on her back and shrugging. She began to regret it when the other exo just glared through her helmet. 

"Let's move," she sighed as she turned back around and started walking again.

"Nice one," Giana laughed quitely beside Lushia. 

"I guess," the exo muttered. 

"You guess? You shot those mines like a badass"-the awoken girl lowered her voice- "and didn't take Eyana's BS." Giana gave Lushia a comforting pat on the back. 

The exo hunter felt a hand slip into hers and noticed her titan right beside her. She smiled to herself and continued walking hand in hand with Sergio until she began to see light at the end of the dark hallway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's another chapter, finally! Thanks to anyone who was waiting.


	14. Going Under

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phwew, I thought I'd have this done before Destiny 2 was launched! Nope. Bear with me here. I will keep writing chapters as much as I can, and once D2 is released, I'll start writing the next chapter in the series. If you don't want to miss it, subscribe.

"Why aren't there ever stairs?" The six guardians approached the drop-off leading down to the grounds. They were all tired after hours and hours of running into Splicers. They couldn't give up. Not yet. 

"Our lives do not grant us stairs, Giana," Liall muttered just loud enough to hear. He began to take a step forward, but stopped and looked up at Eyana next to him. She nodded and stepped toward the edge. 

"Let's go." After adjusting her Warlock bond, she stepped forward and slid down the diagonal platform. Liall followed without hesitation.

"Why can't we just jump forward, huh?" Saul asked.

"The platform is diagonal," Lushia told him. "If we were to jump and fall straight down, we'd hit it."  
"Yeah, I knew that."

The warlocks were nearing the ground while the four guardians were still up there. Seeing this, Giana got down and slid on the platform, Sergio and Lushia going after. Saul went when they were out of his way.

As the hunters reached the edge of the platform, they fell freely before jumping in mid air so that they would have a safe landing. Sergio used his lift ability to do the same. 

Saul, on the other hand, lifted himself too early, leading him to fall about ten feet. The five guardians watched as he fell until he landed hard. He stumbled to the uneven ground as his legs gave out.

"Agh! One of you-- could have helped me, you know." Saul recovered and stood up

"Great. Now you've got a broken nose and broken legs," Giana said.

"Shut up!"

"Are we done here?" Eyana yelled. 

"Yes."

"Then let's move." The warlock started to lead the group up a rocky incline until they reached a large doorway. On the corners were massive amounts of SIVA. Red tendrils swayed through the air on top of mounds of dead matter, as smaller tendrils crept up onto the walls like vines.

"How welcoming," Lushia said as they patrolled through the unpleasantly decorated doorway. 

The guardians entered with caution, weapons at the ready. To their surprise, no Fallen were present, only the blue glow of industrial lights and the hum of machinery. It was almost haunting how there weren't even Fallen guarding the heart of SIVA production. Perhaps they were all inside the chamber. Whatever it was.

Lushia picked at the side of her short cloak, noticing dried blood splattered on the side. Noticing a lot of it, she ignored the stained fabric and continued the quick walking with the group. 

Turning a corner and going through another entrance, they were finally here. An immense wall stood a ways away from them with more SIVA vines and decay. Lushia looked up and realized it wasn't just a wall; it was a prismatic tunnel. It skimmed the walls and was bolted to the rocks and floor. The sight of the towering chamber sent a shiver down her spine.

Going up a few stairs, the six guardians landed on a platform. In front of them stood the massive door of the prismatic chamber. Rasputin's symbol rested on the front. 

Bringing forth her hand, Eyana summoned her ghost. The pieces separated as its blue energy pulsed, scanning the area and working on the door. It began to open, an ear-splitting creak following. 

The ghost returned to the leader's hand and disappeared, leaving the fireteam to make their decision. The chamber presented what seemed like an endless hall filled with red smoke and untamed SIVA.

Eyana turned to the group, scout rifle lowered in a respectable manner. "So," she began, "shall we?"

Lushia smiled to herself under her helmet as she couldn't stifle the excitement. Sure, it was a little intimidating, but she couldn't wait to spill Eliksni blood. Taking Sergio into consideration, she looked behind her, only to see him standing confidently and as ready as she was.

As the guardians passed through the enormous doorway, they started to feel more and more small. The lights above interrogated them as they walked, and the SIVA on the ground told them that Light did not belong here. On the sides of the walls were small prisms created by the plague. Even some outlines of fallen bodies resided behind the tendrils. Nets of SIVA intertwined with the light fixtures and rails of the walls. Thick bunches of it wrapped around the ground like arms claiming it's prize.

Passing through yet another large doorway, the six guardians found themselves on a bridge made entirely out of red cords. Thick, red fog packed the air, making it more humid. Black spindles stabbed the empty space and twisted tendrils held the bridge up. Looking off the sides of the bridge, you could see no floors; no end.

Soon another prism came into view. The heart of the SIVA production. With each step closer, the guardians felt even more small. Tendrils waded off of the bridge, drawing them in. There was no turning back now.


	15. The Chamber

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know Destiny 2 launched just recently and this story takes place during Destiny 1, but there are still more chapter's for me to write and add.

"What are those things on the ceiling?" Giana asked. At this, Eyana held out her hand so her ghost could scan the largest one in front of them.They were tangled in SIVA, bits of metal spliced together.

"I'm detecting DNA," Eyana's ghost said. "They're...human."

"That can't be possible," Lushia said. Suddenly, the bodies were pulled up like puppets by their SIVA ropes. 

"What the hell?" 

An axe fell from the nearest body's spot, landing with a heavy clang. Walking past the control panel, Eyana put her rifle on her back and went over to pick it up. The metal glowed like an ember in her hands.

"TESLA!" It was Liall's scream. The warlock whipped her head up at his call. Not even a second after, she was knocked off of the raised platform from the impact behind her, dropping the axe in the process. The young warlock dashed down to her aid.

The four guardians dispersed out of the remnant's weapon range. As soon as the mutation began firing, Splicers spilled out from entrances in the walls and all hell broke loose.

Giana tried to focus on her radar as she stabbed a few dregs charging near her. Squinting, she noticed what her ghost tagged it as. Remnant of Felwinter. 

"These are the Iron Lords," she hollered. She looked closely at the metal attached to the remnant, and saw the axe symbol. Her eyes went up to the face and she just barely made out the shape of the jaw, jagged teeth jutting out. 

"It's just using the armor!" Lushia Shadestepped out of the gunfire range. 

"No!" Giana jumped out of her path as Felwinter stomped towards her. She tried not to land in a swarm of dregs. "The SIVA altered their bodies!" Her throat ached from screaming. 

The remnant of Felwinter smashed the ground, sending it shaking. Saul ran over to grab the axe as Lushia tossed a grenade at it's feet, purple flames bursting around it. Stunned, the remnant roared with pain as Saul struck the back of its legs with the now flaming axe. Sergio charged at it with his shotgun, landing bullets in the head. With one last pained noise, the remnant of Felwinter fell to the ground. 

"Tesla, are you alright?" Liall kneeled next to the exo warlock, sheltering her as she recovered. 

"Don't-- call me that... ever again, Liall," she said, short of breath. "Not in front of them." She began to sit up as her energy returned. 

"I'm sorry," Liall whispered. A Splicer dreg tried to attack him with a shock dagger, Liall striking it with solar energy. When a vandal with blades approached the warlocks, Liall almost meleed it, before Lushia shot it with her hand cannon. The Awoken warlock gave her a grateful nod. 

Two remnants remained in the chamber. Their bodies were distorted in gruesome ways, bones sticking out where they shouldn't be, muscles and flesh knotted. 

Giana practicality ran along the walls as she charged at the remnant of Ghelon, arc energy crackling in her fist. Swiping her arm through the air, she sent a powerful wave of electricity down to a group of Fallen to clear her path. When she neared Ghelon's remnant, she sprung off of the walls onto its back, plunging her blade into the hardened flesh. Arms swung at her, but she was small enough to dodge the attacks. Her knife met the eye sockets, travelling just far enough to damage the eyes. As the remnant was blinded, the Bladedancer pried her electric blade into a soft spot of its head. The movement ceased as the abomination that was once Ghelon slumped to the ground. 

Giana jumped down into a growing puddle of blood as her blade returned to its normal state. She tried to ignore the absurd amount of fluid collecting on the metal and gloves, accompanied by stringy pieces of gore. As her gaze was downward, she noticed the broken visor of a titan's helmet. She lifted it up and brushed away small red vines still growing. Realizing that this was not the most important thing, she let it dissolve as her ghost held it for her.

There was only one left. Jolder.

Lushia threw her void grenade to a cluster of dregs around the last remnant. A stealth vandal came up behind her, swinging it's blade at the exo. The metal scraped against her own plates as it went through her torso, fluids streaming out. Letting out a pained cry, she tried to sink her own knife into its body, but she was too slow. One arm wrapped around her chest as the other ripped the blade against her throat.

It was only painful for a moment before her ghost opened above her, bringing her Light into its orb. While inside her ghost, Lushia could faintly see flashes of what was happening around her. Fallen-- Remnant-- fire-- Sergio? Front-- standing--

She was returned to her body, gaining control again. Sergio had been standing in front of her ghost, defending her. His hand reached for hers frantically as Lushia felt the warm feeling racing through her.

Now was not the time for emotion. Jolder's remnant still remained. As she fired at the two guardians, the Nightstalker grabbed Sergio and Shadestepped, transporting them both out of range. 

Fallen were pouring into the chamber with each minute. Saul abandoned the last remnant, landing in the middle of the room. With a wave of energy, he created a Ward of Dawn, large enough for the six guardians. 

Each guardian rushed in, forming a circle so that they could attack from each direction. The Defender titan shared his Light amongst the other five, but still spared enough for himself. 

"This is a lot harder than I thought," Saul called as he held the dome together.

"You thought this would be easy?" Sergio managed to yell as he fired.

"I guess," Saul replied. "We were just gonna blow the place up and be done with it."

Lushia was full of energy by now. With a grin, she jumped up out of the bubble, summoning her void bow. Suspended in the air, she shot two arrows to the ground near the Fallen and the third to the last remnant's chest. 

Returning to the circle of guardians, she absorbed as much Light as she could. There was only one flaw about having multiple arrows: they didn't last long. 

The remnant of Jolder charged toward the purple dome of Light, regaining strength. Each step shook the chamber as she got nearer and nearer. Saul's eyes widened in realization as he braced the dome. He turned to warn the others around him, but he wasn't nearly quick enough. Jolder's remnant smashed the ground, breaking the bubble and scattering each guardian across the floor of the chamber. 

Lushia's vision blurred as she landed hard in a puddle of dark liquid. She searched frantically for her hand cannon on her leg, only to find ripped fabric and empty space. Seeing that there were no Fallen near her, she equipped her sniper and leaned against a platform. Despite the pain in her left shoulder, she aimed across the room at the remnant's head. The trigger creaked a bit, then the bullet landed in the glowing eye of Jolder.

As soon as the exo heard the monstrous shriek, she regretted even lifting her rifle. She panicked as the remnant snapped its head to her, one glowing eye finding the source of the bullet. Each charging stomp shook the chamber and Lushia forced herself to get up and run. The remnant didn't get very close before a glowing hammer collided with it. 

Sergio glowed a brilliant orange as he weilded the flame hammers. He landed another on Jolder's corrupted body as Lushia tossed a smoke grenade and shot it with her sniper, diverting the remnant's attention. Giana attacked from afar, sending waves of electricity across the floor. 

"Sergio, move!" Lushia ran to him to try to push him out of the way. Jolder lifted a heavy arm, smashing the ground and sending the two guardians back again. Bits of SIVA were produced from the attack, red particles swarming around Lushia and Sergio. 

Lushia writhed on the ground as the particles coursed through her circuits. She dug her fingers into the ground as she crawled away from the swarm of burning red. Her ghost appeared and cleansed her of any remaining bits of SIVA. Weakened, she laid on the ground as the chaos went on around her. 

"Liall," Eyana said, "warn them." The warlock's hands began to glow as lighting appeared all around her body. Liall saw this and hollered at the top of his lungs for everyone to get down. He deserted Eyana as massive amounts of electricity sparked around her body. She ignored the burning as the remnant turned its attention to her.

With a swipe of her arm, she released the lightning, sending it flying in all directions. A deafening crack sounded before the remnant and all of the Fallen were wiped out. Drained of energy, she dropped to the floor of the platform once more.

"Is everyone okay?" Liall's voice echoed in the now empty chamber. The guardians stood, recovering from the ground. All except for one.


	16. Missed the Bullseye

"What's wrong with him?" Lushia's voice wavered as she knelt by Sergio. He convoulsed madly, his breathing rapid. She removed his helmet and revealed his horribly bloodshot eyes.

"His body is infested with SIVA," Lushia's ghost said. "Small particles."

She remembered what the remnant had done. Once it attacked, the particles were in her too. That is until her ghost cleansed her.

Where was his ghost?

She searched the ground frantically for the striped shell. Her ghost scanned the floor until she directed the exo to the bottom of a pillar. She hurried to the location as Giana and Saul arrived at the scene. Amongst the glowing red she spotted a dim blue light flickering at her.

Trying to block out Sergio's pained groans, Lushia went to pick up the ghost. When she did, however, the shell crumbled away. The eye was cracked and the blue glow was almost completely gone. The sight of it and the sound of Sergio's pain sent a horrible feeling through her circuits.

Lushia held the eye as she rushed back to the crippled titan. Her own ghost was hovering around Sergio, shining blue rays down onto him. She turned her attention to her guardian who held out the damaged eye. Her body spun and the eye blinked.

"Can you do anything?" Lushia tried to hide the desperation in her voice.  
She shined a single ray into the remains of Sergio's ghost. "I'm not picking up any signs of consciousness from him."

"What about Sergio?" Giana asked. The hovering robot blinked, then sent a cloud of blue down to the titan. He drew in one long breath and seemed to gain his awareness back.

"That's all I can do," Lushia's ghost said. "I'm not his ghost, but I can give him some Light for now."

Lushia reached for the titan's hand and squeezed. His breaths were heavy, but not as dramatic as before. "Thank you," she said to her ghost.

The little light nodded. "Keep what's left of his ghost close to him. We want to keep his connection to the Light as strong as possible."

Sergio turned to Lushia and squeezed her hand back. The exo helped as he tried to sit and stand up.

"Lu-"

"Shhh." Lushia slung his arm over her neck and heard his shaky breaths. Remembering what her ghost had said, she handed the shell-less eye to him and closed his fingers around it. His bloodshot eyes threatened to close as they walked wearily up to the platform.

"We have another problem," Liall sighed. He stared at the control panel while he supported Eyana. The other guardians gathered. "When she created the blast, the amount of electricity overrode the controls." He looked to his left to make sure Eyana was functional. The panel screen glitched, numbers and letters in a scramble. "We will be able to escape before the Fallen find us, but we won't be able to initiate self-destruct."

"If we don't destroy the chamber," Eyana said, voice shaking, "then we fail our mission. There has to be another way."

A silence grew between the fireteam as they stood around the piece of machinery. Suddenly, Giana perked up.

"There is," she said. The awoken hunter examined the panel as her ghost popped out beside her. "Yes!"

"What is it," Eyana asked wearily as she leaned on the other warlock.

"The electricity didn't override it, it just reset the controls." She whipped around to the group. "It can be done manually."

"There isn't time," Liall said.

Giana sighed and turned back to the controls. "Which is why you should get a head start. This whole place is gonna blow once I initiate self-destruct."

"We can't leave you," Lushia said.

"You might just have to." Giana's shoulders seemed to lower. "Besides, there's still a chance that I can make it out."

"How do you know so much about this stuff," Saul asked.

"I've learned a lot in my lifetime," Giana said.

Sergio began to cough, a sharp noise following. His nose started to bleed slightly and the inside of his mouth was red. Lushia tried to make him stand upright in hopes that it would help his breathing.

"You need to get him out of here," Giana ordered. "All of you should go."

Lushia hoisted the titan up next to her. "But what about y-"

"Don't worry about me. What matters is that you get Sergio medical help and away from the chamber in time."

"Giana Rev," Eyana said, straightening up, "we honor your Light."

Giana gave a polite nod and turned back to the control panel. She worked at the screen as her blue ghost shined rays down onto it.

The five guardians started towards the exit silently. Lushia did her best to hold Sergio up as she walked through the doorway. Looking behind her, she saw one last glimpse of the hunter working away at the panel before the doors slammed shut.

They'd already lost one guardian. Lushia wouldn't let them lose another.

Sergio began coughing again and blood dripped out of his mouth. Lushia wiped it away with her glove and the titan inhaled shakily to cease his coughing.

"Sorry," he whispered.

Lushia didn't even respond, dumbfounded at his apology for a little bit of blood when he was suffering the most.

When they heard the sharp creak of the doors ahead of them, they began to run. Lushia pushed against the bridge as hard as she could, despite Sergio's weight. He was so weak against his armor that running was like torture. The exo's legs started to burn when they broke into a sprint.

Their running was perfectly timed. At that moment something in the chamber exploded and all Lushia could think about was that hunter's smile. She seemed so happy while living the life of a guardian. Perhaps those long twelve years were enough for her. It was her time to sleep again.

Sergio almost tripped, causing Lushia to strain to keep him up. Parts of the bridge began to explode and burst, strands of SIVA clawing at the air. The bridge shook and some of the spindles broke off and fell into the red abyss as the five guardians ran at top speed.

 _Come on_ , Lushia thought, _faster, you know you can do this_.

A group of Splicers awaited them, Shanks firing. As if waiting for this exact moment, Liall unleashed his Light--only instead of orange, it was purple.

Lushia couldn't believe her eyes. Could Liall weild more than one element? Lushia continued to run under Sergio's weight. She willed herself to ignore any tiredness and keep going until she saw the entrance, which was closing. Luckily, Liall's attack cleared the path.

The explosions were almost deafening as Sergio's footsteps clashed with the ground as his energy got lower and lower, his breaths shallow.

"Come on, Serge," Lushia pleaded as they neared the entrance. Her grip tightened around his wrist and body. _Just a little while longer_ , she thought. Panels above the five guardians caught fire and started to crumble away and they did their best to avoid them. The chamber was completely destroyed.

The entrance drew nearer as Sergio grew weaker. Lushia felt a glimmer of hope as she felt a hand come around her waist. Had Sergio gained his Light back? She held onto him, but something ripped her away as the titan cried out. She felt his armored hand slip from her grasp as everything was a flash of blue against the fire from the explosions.

She landed hard on the metal floor. The pain was excruciating as she rolled to the side and peered through the massive closing doors of the chamber. Panic suddenly filled her and her eyes widened.

Sergio was still in there.

After forcing herself to get up, she ran. Her eyes wouldn't leave the titan who struggled on the ground. She almost reached the slit in the doors before four hands grabbed her arms and held her back. She heard nothing but explosions and her own voice screaming for her titan. She tried to wrench her arms free, but to no avail.

She caught one last glimpse of Sergio's face before the doors sealed shut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Currently crying a little bit on the inside. It seems a little silly, but since I've been developing these characters and I knew what was going to happen, it was just a little unusual to write Sergio's death. Please give me feedback! :)


	17. A Fool

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flashback

_Who is this titan, and what has sparked his interest in me? Why does he ask me to train with him? And better yet, why do I accept?_

_This human seems happy to be taking time out of my day. He should find something else to do other then try to shoot at me for fun. I wish he would leave. I wish he would stop talking to me. I wish that I didn't enjoy his presence._

_I've won four matches already and he continues to try. The titan is relentless. It is unusual to see a guardian with such personality._

_I miss a shot. He laughs. I feel something within me. Emotion? Laugh or growl? Pull trigger again._

_The ghost appears above him. This is pointless. He rises again and the match is over._

_I do not speak as I read the scores. He killed me once. I killed him twelve times._

_My reading is interrupted. Launching another match? He is a fool. I blink._

_I realize that if he is a fool, then I want to be a fool with him._


	18. Aftermath

"Lushia!" 

The exo finally snapped back to her senses. She stood, almost paralyzed as her eyes stared at the thin line running in between the massive doors. Everything was silent. 

She felt someone stepping close to her. At that moment it seemed like all of the anger that she experienced in her life would come out like water breaking through a dam if she opened her mouth. Turning her head to the right, she couldn't tell if she felt relieved or furious. 

Giana stumbled back as Lushia shoved her. 

"Why?!" The exo's voice echoed in the immense cave. Her hands balled into fists as she ran a thousand words through her head. A thousand more that she would not say. 

She took a breath. "Why?" 

"I'm sorry," Giana said, voice shaking. Sorry wasn't enough for Lushia. She wanted to scream at her for what she'd done. It was her fault. Her fault that she was in pain. Her fault that Sergio was dead. She didn't care if she saved her. She hated her for not saving Sergio too. 

She turned to Eyana. "Open the doors."

"No," she said. "They're sealed shut." 

Lushia thrust her hand into the air, summoning her ghost, not even needing to tell her what to do. She floated to the door and scanned for any signs of life. 

The exo almost dropped to the ground as the ghost shook her prismatic body "no". She threw off her helmet and pressed her hands to her face. How could she let this happen? 

She stared at the Rasputin symbol on the doors that would never open again. She heard a shaky breath to her right as her head buzzed with unimaginable hate and sorrow. 

"We need to get back to the Iron Temple," Liall said. He didn't dare try to comfort the exo to his left. 

"No," Lushia said. She dug her fingers into her palm so hard that the metal almost cracked. 

"Lord Saladin is requesting our return." Liall's voice was rising. The exo stayed mute. Liall grew impatient. He went to put a hand on her shoulder. "Lushia-"

"Don't touch me!" The exo caught his wrist and forced him back by the arm. She blinked a few times and stared at the ground wide-eyed. The heat in her core made her want to rip one of her antennae off of her own head. 

She heard a groan to her left and regretted pushing Liall back. He didn't deserve it and it was too late to ask for forgiveness. Something gnawed at her as she noticed all of the guardians on the team standing far away from her as if she were a rabid animal on display. 

"Enough," Eyana barked. "We cannot afford to lose more time. If Lord Saladin is expecting us, then we must return to the Iron Temple, regardless of recent casualties."

Regardless? Was she not here this entire time? Did she not just lose a member of her fireteam? How dare she diminish Sergio that way. How dare she treat him like a disposable pawn.

She shook her head.

"Lushia-5, you have done nothing to prove your worth today. If-"

"Nothing?" Lushia walked up to the exo warlock. "I'm the one who hasn't proven myself? I'm sorry, but who was the one that fainted twice on this mission?" Eyana didn't flinch.

"None of you helped Sergio as we ran out of that hellhole. I tried my goddamn hardest to save my best friend's life as all of you ran ahead of us! He was almost dead! And what did you do? You ordered us around like children. Your blast disabled Sergio's ghost. When you injured yourself, you needed Liall to come and save you. 

"Now say it again, Eyana. Tell me I'm worth nothing when you let one of your own guardians die, commander." Lushia's purple eyes practically seethed on their own as she scowled up at the warlock. 

"Lushia-5," Eyana said calmly, "if you wish to remain a part of my fireteam, then return to the Iron Temple with us. If not, then may the Light be your guide." The Stormcaller summoned her ghost and brought the other three guardians into their ships, leaving Lushia alone underground.

She relaxed her hands and turned toward the chamber doors. Her feet clicked on the metal panels as she walked up to them and placed her hand on the door, leaving a handprint of red. Remembering that she had wiped away Sergio's blood with that hand, she reached up to her face and found more of it.

She leaned her head on the doors and closed her eyes, trying to focus on her breathing. All she could think of was his face. How he was crawling on the ground as the chamber exploded around him, his chin smeared with blood. The red eyes as he convoulsed on the ground. Hearing the screams of pain as his ghost flickered out. 

And worst of all, knowing that he was just on the other side of the walls, laying still in a permanent sleep.

Her fist slammed on the door. It wasn't supposed to end like this. It shouldn't have been him. Giana was the one who sacrificed herself. She was the one who left Sergio behind. 

She was the one who was supposed to die.

-

"You sure you want to do this?" The red ghost hovered next to her exo who remained stony-face and silent. She typed in a few coordinates to her dashboard and the ship lifted off of the ground.

She floated in front of her guardian's face. "None of this was your fault." The exo pushed her away with her hand. Still blank-faced, she accelerated her ship.

"If you want to ignore me, then ignore me," the ghost said, turning away. "But I'm always going to be here for you." When the guardian didn't respond, she hovered away into the ship. 

Lushia let out a shaky breath. She stared straight ahead and made her ship accelerate even more. It felt like something was going to claw its way out of her core and eventually escape, only to leave her empty and bitter. She'd driven away so many people today, it seemed. Even her ghost avoided her, and she was nothing without her ghost.

When she felt like things couldn't get any worse, she saw four ships come into view ahead of her. One of her screens read "INCOMING COMM REQUEST FROM -- LIALL JOVAX. ACCEPT?" She hesitated, then pressed "accept."

"Liall," Lushia said, her voice rather monotone. Liall greeted her.

"I want to apologize for what Eyana and I said."

"Don't," Lushia said, sharper than intended. She sighed. "I'm sorry I pushed you." She had questions for him, like why he called Eyana "Tesla", or how he used a Void instead of Solar attack in the chamber. She didn't have the energy to bring them up. 

"You had every right to be upset. I did not take it personally." He paused. "I am glad that you decided to return to us."

The peak came into view through the snowy winds. It had only been a day since they first arrived at this mountain, and only five hours since they had departed to destroy the chamber. She saw the path they took to get up to the temple. Lushia replayed the whole scene in her head as they fought through the Devils. It seemed like such a long time ago. She neared the mountain with the rest of the group.

"Me too."


	19. Adieu

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, the final chapter of Spliced...but don't worry! I will continue the series. If you read all of it, I really appreciate it.

****

Lushia stayed silent through everything. Her fireteam only dared to glance at her when they landed. They gathered in the temple with other guardians, all of which Lushia didn't know. Despite this, she felt like everyone was staring right through her into her mind like they knew how weak she was. 

She didn't listen as Saladin praised the guardians for their work. His words meant nothing to her. No matter how much honor he said they bore, she just felt empty. 

Her eyes remained on the floor as Giana presented a helmet to the Iron Lord, earning thanks. He rewarded Eyana for leading the fireteam and even expressed his remorse for the lost guardian. Lushia knew that his words for him were hollow. Lord Saladin never knew any of them, he just used them defeat his enemies; to drown his own demons. 

-

"So I guess this is goodbye." Saul said to the circle of five guardians. 

"Yes," Eyana said, "unless Saladin calls upon us again. You did well, guardians. It wasn't easy, but...we got the job done."

Lushia cringed. The warlock might as well have said, 'Lord Saladin is pleased, end of story'. Perhaps she didn't give a damn if they only returned with five guardians instead of six. 

"Relax, hunter." Lushia's eyes glided upwards. 

"Saul, don't," Giana warned. 

"We lose one guardian and all of a sudden, it's the end of the world." The titan frowned. "I really don't see what all the fuss is about with this one."

"Of course you don't," Liall pitched in. "You never will. You will never be worthy of anyone." The exo warlock snapped her head to her pupil in disbelief. 

"You think Lushia is weak for feeling," he continued. "She is not. You don't understand what it is like to love or be loved." 

Lushia hated that he was fighting her battles, but she kept quiet. She didn't want to argue with anyone anymore.

"Like you would know," Saul shrugged.

"I do not," Liall said, "but Lushia does. She is stronger for not crumbling under the weight. You are stone-hearted, Saul Dallan. Too cold for anyone to love you."

"That's enough, Liall," Eyana snapped. The Awoken warlock narrowed his eyes and pressed his mouth into a line. The titan had the faintest glint of fear in his eyes for how much Liall knew. Lushia looked up to the silver-haired warlock and he gave her a sympathetic nod. She nodded back.

"You know, Saul, it's a bit ironic that you're a Defender, yet you don't give a damn about anyone other than yourself." Lushia kept her voice at a moderate level. The titan leaned in.

"As a matter of fact," he sneered, "I really don't. We may be guardians, but hell, we're only out there to make sure the helpless ones don't kick the bucket. Our lives suck. We're replaceable. That's why I don't give a fuck about Sergio. Face it Lushia. He's just going to get replaced by some other titan out there."

Lushia stayed mute, but felt the sting of his words sink in. Giana started to yell at Saul and he just smirked. Reaching up to her belt, she unhooked a small grenade. As all of the attention was to Saul, she squeezed the grenade until she crushed it. Blue smoke engulfed her, making her vanish from sight. She took a few steps, then broke into a run. She headed straight for the outside.

Saul yelled one last taunt at her before she was gone. She ran down the stairs and through the snow, crossing the wooden bridge. When she got to the massive doors near the fire pit, she pushed as hard as she could until they creaked open. She ran, fighting the ache creeping up onto her chest. Her legs carried her father and farther, down the path they took to get up to the mountain. The snow crunched beneath her feet, tumbling in little mounds down the slopes. 

Her legs suddenly gave out and she fell into the snow. Everything that she tried to keep in flooded her body, overwhelming her. It burned her chest. She shook and struggled to sit up.

The only word that came to her mind was failure. She was a failure running away. A failure for being weak. A failure for losing Sergio. She thought back to running out of the chamber. If only she pushed harder. If only she ran faster. If only she held onto him tighter. She realized that it wasn't Giana's fault that he was gone, and it wasn't Eyana's. It was all her. She let go of him. 

A bitter ache bloomed in her chest. It felt like her circuits lurched, but it was much worse. Her breath seemed to catch in her throat and her arms began to shake. The feeling wrenched and clawed and tore at her chest. She lurched again and it all came back, but stronger. 

She lost visual focus and felt like the world was spinning, and if she moved she would fall off of the snowy ledge that she was on. The burn crept up higher into her head, then low into her legs. A strange noise escaped her throat and she dug her fingers into the snow, hoping that it would soothe the ache. The only thing she could compare it to was being shot or stabbed by a shock dagger. She curled up, knees to her chest and her own fingers clawing at her armor. The chest plate felt too tight, all of a sudden, like it was closing in on her. She tried to focus her vision, but everything seemed so surreal, like she was phasing through memory, dreams and reality. 

She whimpered and clawed at herself. The burn consumed her, tearing her apart. Her breaths became rapid and she started to lose awareness of her surroundings. The burn continued, and she let out a scream. Soon she stopped shaking and things began to go black.

The blue light of her ghost pulled her out of the darkness. 

The weight in her body was lifted and she scrambled backwards into the rocky ledge as if she were trying to escape from something in front of her. She clutched her chest as if a bullet had gone through. 

"What happened to me?" Her voice shook and she stared at her ghost. 

"Your stress levels were insanely high," the ghost said. "It caused your systems to shut down. It was similar to something that occurs in humans called a panic attack."

Lushia huddled in a corner formed by the mountain cliffs, cooling off from her episode. She looked around her. At the rocks, the snow. The sun was setting, making the mountains gold. None of it was beautiful to Lushia anymore. 

"I need to run some tests to see if you are still functioning properly. If you'd let me-"

"No," Lushia muttered 

"But..." The ghost blinked her lens. 

"I'm fine. I need some time." The exo tucked her knees into her chest and looked out.

The ghost in front of her hovered down to her knee and looked up at her guardian. Rolling the eye up, she said, "I just want to help you."

"You've done all you can," Lushia whispered. The ghost blinked once, then dissolved, leaving the exo alone on the ledge. 

Lushia lifted another mound of snow. She watched it as it slowly melted on her gloved hand until it was a little puddle. 

_You've always liked the snow, Lu_

-

She didn't know how much time had passed. The world didn't seem to turn anymore. Time must have stopped for her. Perhaps she was the only one left on the mountain. Perhaps word had spread through the city about the passing of a guardian. 

She developed a solution to all of this in her head. Sergio was alive and he was making his way to the temple. He would come around the corner to embrace her any minute now. It would be like the old days when they would play games where they would have to find one another. She would hide in the most obvious places and Sergio would always find her ten minutes or so later. She would always see him again if she waited. He would always come back. 

"Lushia?" 

Her head perked up. She tried to change positions to look less like a crazy drunk in a pile of snow, but she was too late. Giana stepped around a corner of the ledge.

"There you are," she sighed. The exo found herself strangely annoyed at her relief. She was glad Giana couldn't hear her thoughts earlier. "I looked everywhere for you."

"You could have saved a lot of time if you just used your ghost's tracker," Lushia said sarcastically.

"That would've been too easy," Giana said. When Lushia didn't say anything, she sighed. "May I?"

Lushia looked up and nodded as the hunter sat next to her. "Where are the others?"

"They left," Giana said. She smirked. "Saul ran away with his tail practically between his legs. Guess he wasn't too thrilled with that Liall guy." She smiled when Lushia let out a sound close to a nasal chuckle. 

Lushia reached into one of her pant pockets. "I found this." She held out her hand to Giana. Opening her fingers, she revealed a small cube with multicolored squares on it. Giana's face lit up.

"This is what I meant to show you!" She took the cube in her hands and giggled. "Must've fallen out earlier...no pun intended." When the exo didn't respond, she let the cube dissolve into her hidden ghost. "Lushia?"

"Yes?"

She scooted closer. "Are you going to be okay?" Her voice was slow and sincerity dripped from it.

Lushia cast her gaze downwards. "In time."

"I know what it's like," Giana said. "I can help you through it."

The exo shook her head. "I don't deserve your help, Giana. I don't want to hurt anyone else."

"You won't hurt me, Lushia. If you-"

"No." Lushia shook her head. "I'll only drag you down with me." Giana was silent. "Just go."

The hunter leaned away, hurt in her eyes. "I understand," she said. She stood and looked away. Lushia stayed in the snow.

Before turning the corner of the ledge, Giana faced the exo. "If you need anyone," she said softly, "just tell me. I'll be here for you." A beat passed and she disappeared.

Lushia covered her face. She was alone. No one would be coming back for her. She'd pushed Giana away. Sergio was gone forever. He was her world. Everything she'd had, everything she loved for two years was taken from her in two days. She knew she would need someone to keep her above the water. But she had just slammed the door in that person's face and locked it.

_Look what you've done._

 


End file.
